Pay, wages and stipends in Scientology
Download this document as a pdf }} Proportionate pay plan Scientology staff and sea org personnel are not paid legal minimum wages. In fact, they don't receive wages at all, but are paid a percentage of the income generated by their org or business unit. That gross income is first reduced by deductions to fund policy mandates. Of the remaining "corrected gross income", 30% is allocated to staff payroll. That 30% is split between staff members based on the number of "units" associated with each job description. This "units system" was devised by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard as part of a "proportionate pay plan: first instituted in 1957. Hubbard described the importance of proportionate pay in these terms, }} Hubbard justified this "attitude toward wages" by likening wage earning to slavery, claiming his system enabled a free individual to live self-sufficiently, benefitting from the fruits of their labors, }} In a certain light, Hubbard's system might appear reasonable and even appealing. So long as revenues are substantial enough that allocations generate a living wage! Unfortunately, this has rarely, if ever, been the case. In reality, Hubbard's "unit system" has maintained wages at such a low levels that affording even basic necessities has been an invariable challenge for staff and sea org. According to ex-staff member "Axiom142": In reality, the average was between £5 and £10 and out of this, we had to buy our own clothes (and pay to clean them at the launderette) and buy any ‘treats’, toiletries or any other things that made life more bearable... | }} Scientology's "proportionate pay plan" is still in use. Changes to the plan have been rare and have typically penalized staff pay even further. Originally, Hubbard mandated that staff receive 50% of "corrected gross income". A modification in the 1970's instituted a range of 30% to 50% and the lower figure has been in general use ever since. Longer lists of deductions to the initial "gross income" has reduced the "size of the pie" from which staff receives its 30% slice. A minor change came after Scientology received religious tax exemption. At that time, the church stopped referring to staff remuneration as "pay". Instead, Scientology calls staff and sea org compensation a "religious stipend". Under whatever name, the added benefit of tax exemption did nothing to increase wages. Ex-Scientologist "OT8Michael" describes his firsthand experience with the church's proportionate pay plan: What does this mean? Well. each week the org financial planning committee meets to see how much money the org received and banked that week. First disbursements (priority) go to Hubbard book sales, International Management and upper org fees. Then come things like rent, utilities and Divisional supplies. After all those are allocated and if there is something remaining then staff gets some pay and if not then they get no pay or extremely little. What I observed was the FP planning gave staff pay LOWEST priority. | }} Ex-Scientologist "Sai Ninja 2000" writes: }} Ketchup packets and crackers $20 to $50 per week figure is commonly cited among ex-Scientologists, who consistently report struggling to make ends meet. Discounted bread loaves and jars of peanut butter are often referenced as supplements to the insufficient diet provided by Scientology. Loading up on free sugar packets and ketchup from fast food restaurants is frequently mentioned. Ex-staff member "FinallyFree" writes: }} Borrowing from the cookie-jar Dire necessity has forced some staff-members to surreptitiously borrow from Scientology petty cash. Ex-staff member "SteptInIt" admits: }} Having to do the same, "Wisened One" commiserated: Crazy, that such a 'powerful' group with THE 'answer' to spirituality, etc. you had to do something like that, huh? | }} Pay averages, median incomes and poverty thresholds Scientology does not publish financial information so it's not possible to know, precisely, what levels of compensation the "unit system" provides. However, the church offered a clue in a 2007 U.S. Customs and Immigration filing. In that filing Scientology representatives broadly "guesstimated" average staff compensation at $200 per week, but made clear that citing a specific figure would violate the policies of the church. The $200 figure did not, they said, represent an actual "proffered wage". }} In the immigration case, the $200 figure was a "rounding up" of one individual's weekly wage averages for two annualized pay periods ($179.40 in 1999 and $159. 92 in 2002). Annualized, this church's estimate amounts to $10,500. The $20.00 per week figure often cited by ex-Scientologists comes to $1,040 annually. The spread between $1,000 and $10,000 does reflect a range commensurate with reports from ex-staff and sea org personnel. Ex-staff member, "Alanzo" tells us: That's less than $300 per month. And that was the best year ever. | }} Another ex-Scientologist reports a range very close to these estimated figures: Weekly pay for my ex varied from week to week, but he worked a minimum of 85 hours a week (4420 hours a year) and the yearly pay, judging by what was gotten from week to week would be between $1560 and $6240 (yes, I know that's a rather large gap. That would be if he got the minimum every week for a year or the maximum every week for a year. I estimate around $3000 though. PER YEAR.) So yes, much less than poverty level. It's more like slavery considering the hours being worked. I never took the time to calculate this before, but the results are quite sickening. So, in summary: Hours per year: 4420 Dollars per year: $3000 | }} As mentioned above, Scientology pay may put staff below U.S. Census Bureau "poverty thresholds". However, it's difficult to compare reported Scientology wages with national figures, since it's not possible to assign a dollar value to the church's communal living arrangements. Scientology staff and sea-org members normally receive modest "room and board" (but no medical, dental, or retirement benefits). Nonetheless, the U.S. Census Bureau cites median incomes for single households in the U.S. at roughly $30,000 to $50,000 annually. The "poverty threshold" for a single individual in 2008 was $10,991. Anyone with a food bill might justifiably ponder Scientology's "room and board" and wonder at the remuneration levels reported by ex-staff and sea org members. Staff altruism and acceptance Why do Scientology staff and sea-org members accept such low pay? A majority are altruistic and genuinely believe their efforts benefit humanity. "hummingbird" writes: }} "Alanzo" explains: I always thought that I could make it go right and be able to afford my own modest little apartment, my own used car, and enough money to feed myself and even have a family - as long as the wife worked a wog job Scientology. I chose that willingly because I wanted to live a life that mattered more than one that only made money. And to me at the time, living a life that mattered meant being on staff, fighting the good fight, whether it made me money or not. What I did not know, because I was constantly being lied to about it, was that NO ONE EVER MADE MONEY WHILE ON STAFF. No one ever made enough money to support a modest apartment and a used car. All around the world, no one ever made a living wage as a staff member for the Church of Scientology. | }} Scientology takes advantage of idealistic individuals who aspire to, "live a life that mattered". They join in the belief that spreading Scientology will help the world achieve spiritual harmony. In pursuing that goal many deplete personal savings to supplement the subsistence provided by the church. "Justice League" tells us: As a Class V Org staff member in the 90's, I got $43 in one entire year (documented!). Might I add that the org I worked for was at its highest number of staff ever at that point (god knows what the poor staff get there now, actually I think they are mostly S.O Org members anyway... we were a combined org in that it wasn't split Day and Foundation - so that meant working 6 days a week and the days were 8:30am - 10:00pm. I do remember getting a bonus one year - I think it was about $100. Now, in the Sea Org, I don't think I even made $43 the whole time I was there!!! It was quite funny actually, us "senior management terminals" executives got no pay most weeks. I had a secret stash that I had saved from jobs when I was a teenager and used that for my food, just couldn't handle sandwiches and rice for all my meals (yep, dinner was very often sandwiches). I remember a lot of the local CLO Liaison Office staffers were desperately trying to get a transfer to the local AO Organization as they always got about twice the pay us management guys got. And hey, double $5 is $10 and that could mean the difference between clean clothes and dirty ones! I remember a very senior management terminal executive told me he would happily go and be the Folder Admin staff at the local AO Organization just so he could get some money for cigarettes - How do smokers survive in the Sea Org?! The "in thing" to do was to get a post as a reg registrar or bookstore officer so you could make some commissions. The reg at the local AO even had her own car... woah..... Needless to say I did leave before my secret stash had been totally depleted – thankfully... | }} Registrar commissions As "Justice League" suggests, many on staff angle for a sales job to earn commissions and attain a viable living. "Reg" or "registrar" is the term used for the primary sales agents in Scientology. Staff and Sea Org members that demonstrate proficiency in selling, may be promoted to a registrar position. Scientology Registrars receive 10% commission on sales of books and programs. Commissions are also paid on donations to the church. If a Registrar persuades a parishioner to donate money, they receive 10% . In comparison, it's difficult to fathom a deacon in the Catholic church receiving commission on contributions to a Catholic relief organization. Paid commission is one of many legitimate compensation tools used in business. Hubbard decided it was the only tool, investing commission pay with moral superiority, and embedding it in the tenets of his church. Hubbard claimed wage pay 'suppresses a person into slavery' while commission pay equates with freedom. Commission (or performance pay) is the bedrock of Hubbard's "unit system" payroll. As a writer, first earning his living at "a penny a word", Hubbard possibly believed commission pay equated with independence. In that Depression Era, a steady wage was difficult to come by. Still, he must have recognized commission compensation as a low cost means to promote Scientology. Whatever the origin of Hubbard's faith, commissions on book sales, self-help courses and other Scientology services are the only direct way a staff member can enhance their wages. According to Axiom142: }} "uncle sam" reports: }} Low pay is your fault Registrars earn more than regular staff and (applying sufficient "hustle") can achieve even admirable commission levels. This wage disparity engenders a social hierarchy that equates financial gain with spiritual advancement. Scientology management points to financial "achievers" as exemplars of L. Ron Hubbard's religious tenets. They are spiritually advanced because they are successful and successful because they are spiritually advanced. Scientology uses a corollary logic to chastise and justify low pay. Anyone enduring low wages is spiritually inferior and not working hard enough. Scientology's "unit system" encourages these penitential beliefs. If an org's gross income declines, everyone receives lower pay and everyone is to blame. Scientology teaches that individuals "create" reality. Financial setbacks are not caused by the vicissitudes of the economy, but because of a lapsed spiritual work ethic. Early Puritan religions used the terms "sin" and "the wages of sin" to describe similar circumstances. "Alanzo" writes: … at no time did anyone ever tell me, "Look Alanzo. You are never going to be able to have an apartment and your own car, even if you have roomates and even if you buy a 15 year old AMC Pacer. You will never make enough money to live on as a staff member. Nobody does." Instead, it was "Well what is your out-ethics situation spirituality that is keeping you from making enough money to live on? My God! Everyone else is living it up on the pay they make! Staff members EVERYWHERE are making good pay, really good. Just read what LRH Ron Hubbard has to say about it!" And then they'd set down this pack of lies from LRH that is designed to give you the inexorable Scientology "cognition" that it is ALL YOU, your fault and nobody else. | }} "Re-purposed" revenue Registrars represent the first "rank" in Scientology that earns "real world" pay. They are a key source of cash-flow to church management. Registrar commissions gain preference over staff wages when transactions on certain "high ticket" items, donations, and books are deducted from gross income, before the staff's share is calculated. This practice, coupled with a registrar's allowance to "re-purpose" revenue, sets off considerable infighting in Scientology. "Re-purposing" income can cause org staff considerable hardship. How this comes about requires some explaining. A size-able portion of the money coming int a local org is "prepayments" for future courses. Scientologists place monies "on account" to build up the funds necessary to attain a certain level on the church's "bridge to happiness". This is similar to a university holding monies in a student account that can be withdrawn or applied to further education. The University holds the money for the student, but does not count it as income. Scientology, however, does record parishioner "monies on account" as org income. Prepayments are treated as an org "sale" as soon as they're received. If a Scientologist puts $5,000 "on account" in January, that $5,000 is counted toward the org's "gross income" for January. In February, a registrar might convince that Scientologist to use the $5,000 to purchase books for a library drive. The registrar now earns a 10% commission on a "sale" the org already recorded in January. The org has most likely used the income from that sale to cover expenses. The org is forced to make up a financial loss it had no part in creating. Redeeming the loss may make it impossible to meet current expenses. Staff pay is reduced and the crew may, literally, be eating "rice and beans" to make up the shortfall. Hubbard's financial policies cannot be altered, so the hardship created by "re-purposing" income has gone on for decades. Unfortunately, the church's recurring problem is a textbook example of why counting prepayments as income is NOT accepted accounting practice. Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) recommend recording prepayments as an asset on the balance sheet with a corresponding liability. Prepayments should not appear on the income statement. A number of ex-Scientologists have written about the hardships resulting from the church's "re-purposing of income". What may seem an accounting nicety to some, has caused genuine misery for Scientology staff and sea org personnel. This is especially true when registrars and book sales officers target "monies on account" to improve their "stats" and earn commissions. Ex-staff member "Operating Wog" explains: So some reg or BSO sales officer would convince some off-line public to wipe out the training package he paid for 5 years ago and donate a few thousand DMSMH's books to ... whatever donation project was going on at the time. He or she would get a huge commission, but it would wipe out the CGI, meaning the rest of the staff would starve that week. And of course you couldn't say a word about it. They registrars were upstat and financially prosperous and promoting LRH. If you weren't getting paid, you must be off source, out ethics, whatever. | }} Paul further details the impact of "re-purposing" and other income adjustments: So maybe the org makes $25,000 income that week, and the CGI would have been maybe $20,000, and the org gets to live off maybe $8,000 for utilities, postage, promo, staff pay etc. If some criminal reg like withheld or withheld then "sold" a leatherbound piece of shit to someone for $4,000, making themselves $600 commission in the process, it would make no difference to the Gross Income for the week, but the book income would jump by $4,000, and the CGI would shrink by $4,000. In this case, the org would suddenly have only $6,500 for stuff that week. It was heartbreaking. My complaints were met with "Books make booms," and the fact that one leatherbound copy of Battlefield Earth bought as an investment (hah!) didn't exactly fit into the "Books are Dissemination" theory didn't enter into their thoughts at all. | }} One-time commissions The gross income figure used to calculate staff and sea org compensation can also be manipulated by temporary and irregular commissions. Church management creates these special commission structures to tap dormant funds. These schemes are hidden from staff and sea-org members and sacrifice wage equity. "lkwdblds" relates one such circumstance: One week, the Org had a low GI. The base pay for staff was $10 a week. We were told we were only getting half pay, $5 per week. Meanwhile the Cashier, Mark, received over $700 and the non Sea Org Class VIII, Don, also received over $700. .. I was forced to disburse this money on Friday and it made me sick to do so. The hard working dedicated rank and file only got $5 while an out Ethics crooked Cashier and a non Sea Org C/S. got over $700 each. $700 was pretty big bucks in the early 1970's... | }} Invoicing the absent "Re-purposing" monies on account can extend to parishioners no longer associated with the church. Several ex-staff members have described this particular method of internal fraud. "BAYCB" reports: After about 6 months or so... people started to wonder how this BSO could be selling so well, but hardly any new or old public Scientologists were hitting the doors. Turned out this BSO had the bright idea to go through the central files and find accounts that had money but no activity for years. The BSO would then debit the account for books sales. What they did with the books unknown is anyones guess. After being discovered they were declared. But...no one made the effort to re-credit those stolen accounts. | }} Like the dead rising to vote for a favored political candidate, the billing of non-existent church members is something of a "time honored" tradition in Scientology. "scooter" offers another example: }} Senior staff and the life of luxury Scientology financial policy favors commission earners and top executives. Adjustments to gross income flow "up-lines" through several channels and on to senior management. Pay policy for senior management is a well guarded secret, still staff and sea-org personnel get a clear view of its results. It appears top executives have not been shy about parading financial superiority. "Sir Facer" writes: }} "hummingbird" recalls: But why didn't my then-husband and I have any money? We had "low havingness"drive caused by all of our overts sins. We weren't "making it go right." | }} "Enthetan" also discusses disparity of income: }} Market wage for special situations Like any modern business, Scientology adapts it's payroll when necessity requires it. If a vacant key position threatens to hurt church revenue, Scientology may temporarily hire its own employees at a higher "consulting" rate. This may not happen often, but it demonstrates how market realism drives church financial policy. It also raises the question whether Scientology could, in fact, afford to pay legitmate wage rates. "ttamaad" writes about commanding a "civilian" salary, when needed in a special supervisory position: The FOLO ANZO CO implemented the Cont TTC where all the orgs from around ANZO had to send staff for Auditor training. I had just got back from Flag after doing the Pro TRs Pilot and Pro Course Sup internship and I was required to run it. As I was on Syd Day staff, I worked nights and weekends to live but the TTC sup role meant supervising day and night. Such was the pressure to get the Cont TTC up and running that I asked for and got $400 a week which was the equivalent to my wog job work pay. Somehow it happened each week I got paid the $400 bucks. (never though much about it til now but I guess the rest of the staff suffered) After a few months the Cont TTC was deemed illegal and disbanded and my pay reverted back to the usual paltry sum. | }} Working payroll for maximum profit Like other labor intensive companies, Church of Scientology aggressively "works" its payroll to maximize profits. It maintains a hard-line on base wages while remaining flexible in paying targeted commissions. It makes exceptions to wage policies when necessary. It is strategically generous to outside contractors, consultants, and attorneys. In these practices, Church of Scientology mirrors many profit and non-profit corporations. Unlike most profit and non-profit organizations, Church of Scientology does not pay staff and sea org members legal minimum wage. Scientology claims staff and sea org personnel serve as religious volunteers; happy to work for significantly reduced wages. Scientology wages are not based on prevailing rates or generally accepted accounting principles. They are founded on policies and formulas devised by L. Ron Hubbard. Hubbard vested Scientology staff in a fixed share of "corrected gross income." The "corrections" Hubbard mandated over the years typically favor executives earning commission and top management. By design or coincidence, Hubbard's policies almost guarantee that regular staff and sea org personnel are compensated at very low wage levels. $20 to $50 per week is often reported by ex-staff and sea org personnel. References Category:Operation press pack Category:Copied from Chanology Wiki